I have been admiring some oak trees this winter.  They are still holding their leaves and they are a wonderful rusty looking color, even through blizzards and strong winds.  I have never noticed trees holding their leaves like this so long into the winter.  It's already February for goodness sakes!  So I did some investigating.

I found that Oak trees peak later than other trees.  They go through their fall show of color as other trees do.  Some of their leaves may fall but the rest are of a type called marcescent leaves.  This type of leaf will continue to stay on the branches during the winter.  Sometimes, even when spring comes they are still on the tree and will be pushed off by new buds that are beginning to grow the new leaves.  Sometimes they will still hang on even longer into the spring.

Fall color varies by tree but some of the most popular are Red, White and Black Oaks.  Their orange and deep red leaves put on quite a show if conditions are good (lots of sunlight and cool nights).  If conditions aren't that good they will still show a reddish-brown color.  Oaks are good trees to plant with others, like Maples, to extend your fall color enjoyment.